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October 24, 2025 16 mins

You love being a nurse—but lately, something feels off. Maybe your nursing job isn’t giving you the same sense of purpose it once did. In this episode, Bonnie explores why passion for nursing alone isn’t always enough to keep you fulfilled in your career—and what you can do to bring meaning, clarity, and direction back into your professional life.

She shares how to evaluate your current nursing role through the lens of your strengths and values, plus practical ways to take your next step with confidence—whether that’s a new nursing job, a leadership opportunity, or a renewed mindset in your current role.

Key Takeaways:

  • The real reason loving nursing doesn’t guarantee long-term fulfillment
  • How to assess if your nursing career still reflects your strengths and values
  • What to do when your current role no longer fits your professional goals
  • Small shifts that can help you rediscover joy and motivation at work
  • Why self-awareness and reflection are the foundation of career growth

👉 Download the free Nursing Career Growth Roadmap (link below) to start clarifying your next steps and build a career that grows with you.

Got a Career or Work question? Send me a text right here.

Trying to figure out your next career step?
Download my FREE Nursing Career Growth Roadmap

Join me for a **1:1 Nurse Career Clarity Coaching Call**—a 1:1 coaching session where we’ll get you unstuck and find clarity to make the next move in your career.

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
There have been two instances inmy nursing career when I felt a

(00:03):
genuine disconnect between myprofessional identity and the
work I was doing.
I am sharing these experienceswith you because many of you
might be going through similarchallenges.
The first time I was at thebedside in the C-T-I-C-U, about
seven and a half years intonursing, my love for critical
care had worn quite.

(00:24):
Then I would come to work, do myjob, but I wasn't in love with
it anymore.
Every morning I had to talkmyself into showing up.
Reminding myself to stay focusedso I wouldn't make careless
mistakes.
When my boss noticed that myenthusiasm had gone or was gone,

(00:46):
that moment freed me.
It was confirmation that it wastime for me to move on.
The work was no longer alignedwith my goals, but this
realization empowered me to takethe necessary steps for change.
The second time was years later,I had a graduate degree.
I was working in a specialtythat matched my strengths

(01:08):
perfectly.
Another dream job on paper, butsomething still felt off.
I realized that while the workaligned with my skills, it no
longer aligned with my values.
Isn't that wild?
My goals had changed and I hadto accept.

(01:29):
That it was time to let go.
That was hard.
And so if any of this soundsfamiliar, if you've ever
thought, I like what I do, butI'm not sure I love it anymore,
you are not alone.
It's okay to feel this way, andit's okay to be uncertain about
your career path.
Sometimes the issue isn't yourworkplace or your coworkers.

(01:51):
Sometimes it's that your workhas stopped aligning with your
strengths and your values.
That's what we're diving intotoday, how to identify what
really matters to you in yourcareer, and how to start making
sure that what really matters isin conjunction with your work.

(02:15):
Are you feeling stuck in yourcurrent clinical environment?
Do you want to make a change inyour nursing career, but not
sure what to do next?
Exhausted, burnt out, and maybeeven ready for different
leadership?
I'm Bonnie Meadows, a boardified clinical nurse specialist,
influential leader, careercoach, and wellbeing coach.

(02:35):
Being in the nursing andhealthcare profession since
2004, I have felt stuck andunsure about what was next for
me.
I wanted to be fulfilled in mypurpose, to have a voice at the
table and to be a resource forothers.
I kept telling myself I wantedmore, but didn't have the
direction I needed until I foundclarity and career growth

(02:58):
strategies for experiencednurses like.
Me.
In this podcast, you will findsimple tactical steps that allow
you to gain the clarity you needsolutions for how to grow even
without supportive leadershipand guidelines for setting
boundaries at work so that youcan grow purposefully in your
career as a nurse with agraduate degree who makes a huge

(03:22):
impact in the profession.
So get ready to trade yourscrubs for yoga pants, pop in
those earbuds and let's chat.
And before we get started, Ihave a little something to help
you with this process.
It's called the Nurse CareerGrowth Map.
It's a free downloadable guidedesigned to help you identify
your strengths, values, and nextsteps in your nursing career.

(03:44):
It's a tool I often use in myown coaching sessions, and I'm
excited to share it with youtoday.
You can grab it by clicking thelink in the show notes.
Alright, let's get to it.
Knowing your strengths andvalues is one of the most
important things you can do inyour career.
Here's what I've learned fromworking with many ambitious
nurses.

(04:05):
One job will rarely meet all ofyour desires to grow because you
have so many ideas, you have somany things that you want to do.
As you are exploring the worldand get exposed to more, you
start to understand how muchmore you can do and how much
more is available out there foryou.

(04:25):
To be able to make an impact,and that's okay.
Your strengths and values actlike a compass.
They show you what energizes youand what drains you, where you
need to make adjustments.
When you feel restless orunmotivated, that's often your
internal signal that somethingis not right.

(04:47):
Returning to your strengths andvalues provides the clarity you
need.
To either reimagine your currentrole or prepare you for your
next role.
Now, there are usually twogroups of nurses who find
themselves in this situation.
The first group, you're in a jobthat doesn't use your strongest
skills or your natural gifts.

(05:07):
You've outgrown it and it nolonger challenges or excites
you.
And then there's the secondgroup.
You actually like your job, butsomething still feels
incomplete.
You may be using your skills,but not in a way that really
lines up with your deeper valuesand goals.
Both of these situations cancreate a sense of frustration or

(05:29):
stagnation.
The key is recognizing which oneyou're in so you know what kind
of change you need.
A new role or just a new outlet.
So let's talk about the nursecareer growth roadmap and how it
helps you.
The downloadable free guide thatI talked about earlier, how that
helps you to understand, whichchange you need.

(05:52):
Inside the nursing career growthroadmap, there's a section that
helps you reflect on yourstrengths, values, and your
career priorities.
So you can start getting clarityon your next steps.
It walks you through questionslike, what do I enjoy most about
my current work?
What do I find most draining?
What values feel missing from myrole right now?

(06:13):
If you haven't downloaded yourcopy yet, this is just your
reminder to pause this episode,go down to the show notes, click
on the link, and go ahead andgrab that free copy.
Once you go through it, youmight realize one of two things,
you're in the wrong seat.
Your job isn't using yourstrengths or supporting your

(06:34):
values, or your job is a goodfit, but you're craving more
room to grow.
For example, I had a colleaguewho loved her job.
Was very excited about the work,but still wanted to do something
different.
It wasn't meeting all of herneeds.
We went through a little bit ofthis exercise.

(06:57):
And when I came back to her, shesaid, I went through the
exercise and what I figured outwas that I really like where I
work and I like what I do.
I just needed a new outlet.
I found this like she startedteaching on the side and she was
like, I find that to be very,very rewarding.
That's just a good example of.

(07:20):
Liking your work, especially ifyou're in a high level job, or
you've kind of reached where yougenerally wanna be at this point
in your career and you just havea inkling for something more.
Sometimes that something more isoutside of your work.
I was just talking to anothercolleague of mine the other day

(07:43):
they are at an executive nurselevel and they're wanting to do
something different.
Well, that's something differentfor them.
It's just like, I don't, Iactually don't wanna move up.
I, I wanna leave room for me tobe able to build a business or
get into other nursing avenuesoutside of work.
Those are prime, examples of.

(08:06):
How you nurture your strengthsand values in being able to do
other things and think outsideof the box of everything at work
is not going to fulfill mycareer needs.
It's just not.
So let's repeat that again.
Everything at work and in yourjob, and you can climb to the

(08:29):
highest level.
But if you are multi-passionateabout a lot of things and you
are one of those people whoreally likes to get into
different things and you like tomake a big impact, then just be
okay with, I'm going to have towork and do something else.
And that's something else mightbe something paid.

(08:50):
Or it might be something thatyou don't get paid for, but
you're growing a reputation inother ways to be able to be at
the table to make an impact onour patients.
If that second one is you, whereyour job is a good fit, but
you're craving more room togrow, then let's talk about some
options that you can start todo.

(09:12):
Some small things that you canstart to do, to build some
layers, of work, outside ofwork, because that's essentially
what you're doing.
Me in my nursing professionaldevelopment role, I am building
layers outside of work aspresident of the North Carolina
Nurses Association.
Building layers outside of workcan be examples like joining a

(09:34):
professional organization onceyou have joined, finding you a
good, committee or counsel ortask force that you can be
engaged in in order to get thework done.
Volunteering on a project,mentoring a nurse, or just
exploring even a creative outletlike you just might be someone

(09:57):
who likes to fix up houses.
Maybe you need to do that.
Maybe it's not even in nursing,but you still like your job.
Maybe you wanna build a businesson the side.
You still like your work, youhave no desire to leave your
work.
Now, some these, the narrativewill, will try to say out here
that you should leave your joband make six figures owning your

(10:18):
own business.
It is, great to own your ownbusiness this podcast, this
business that I have, it is mebeing able to use my gifts and
talents in a way that I can'tuse them at work.
And it allows me the freedom touse them in the way that I want
to use them.
Now, there are things at workthat I don't mind not having

(10:41):
freedom doing I don't mindhaving constraints with doing
'em.
I don't mind falling in linewith doing it because it's a
part of the greater work.
And so really looking to explorethose creative outlets is what
you really need to think about.
So when you start expressingyour strengths in new places,
new spaces, you expand yourskillset and the joy you find

(11:05):
there often skills back intoyour daily work.
It's what keeps me grounded inmy daily work, my work here with
you.
Helps to keep me groundedbecause I have to stay on top of
conversations with people andwhat books I'm reading to
educate you on ways that you canbuild yourself in, build
yourself up in your career, andhow you can grow in your career.

(11:27):
And so remember this, if you canimagine doing more, that means
you already have the capacityfor it.
When we're completelyoverwhelmed, we can't see past
tomorrow.
But if you're thinking, I wonderif I could, that's your capacity
saying, I'm ready.
All right, so let's round thison out.
Here's the good news.

(11:48):
You don't have to make a giantleap to start feeling like you
are on the right track again tostart feeling normal again.
I've been reading the book TheSlight Edge, and one of the main
lessons is that success andgrowth happen through small,
consistent steps taken overtime.
For those of us who like to gohard or go home it's a total

(12:11):
change in mindset and it ishard, but it is something I keep
coming back to because Iunderstand that when I take
small, consistent steps overtime, then things just kind of
normalize and it's not thistotal shock to my system and
total switch in my schedule, butit's more so just little things

(12:34):
that I've incorporated into mylife to make things better.
There's small steps that, that Itake to make things to grow.
I tell people all the time, andI just really started talking
about this at the lastconvention.
About a month ago, I was talkingto some nurses about their

(12:55):
involvement within theprofessional organization they
said, oh, I think I'm gonnastart small over here.
I'm gonna do this little thingover here.
And I said, listen, no one isexpecting you to jump straight
to the board.
There is plenty of work to dooutside of the board of
directors.
Trust me.
I know.
I did that work for seven years.

(13:17):
Before I even ran for the boardof directors, our professional
organization work is a longgame.
You can be involved in as muchas you want, but it's a journey
and there's no rush to get towherever you want to go.
I mean, really, if you thinkabout it now as president.

(13:40):
I've gotten to the mountaintopof the organization once I'm
done, like even a past presidentsaid, there's some mourning that
happens right after because.
You now have to rearrange yourthoughts around, okay, well what
else am I going to do in theorganization?
Because there's no more movingup.
There's moving outward and doingother work outside of the

(14:04):
organization and digging deeperinto the organization.
I love seeing my past presidentsaround digging deeper into the
organization.
But I said all that to say.
Make it a long game.
Take as much time as you want.
There's no climbing there.
There is a little bit of aclimbing of in a ladder of a

(14:25):
professional organization, buteven after you're done climbing
the work is still there for youto do so just fit.
Get it in where you can fit in.
Instead of trying to overhaulyour entire career, try to pick
one value or strength you wannafocus on.
Identify one small way toexpress it each week and then
reflect on how it feels overtime.
If you're in transition andlooking for clarity about your

(14:47):
next role, my one-on-one careerclarity coaching sessions, will
help fast track that process.
So if you like your currentrole, but you wanna deepen your
sense of purpose, I can help youdesign small creative strategies
to bring that alignment back.
Either way.
There's a next step waiting foryou.
So to wrap this up, clarity andalignment come from

(15:10):
understanding your strengths andvalues.
That knowledge helps you makeclear, confident decisions about
what's next without guilt orconfusion.
And here's the truth.
It doesn't have to be all ornothing.
You can take this work one dayat a time.
You can explore and reflect, oryou can walk through it with me

(15:30):
in a coaching session.
Remember, download your freecopy of the Nurse Career Growth
Roadmap right now in the link inthe show notes.
It is your first step towardsgetting your career in alignment
with what matters most to you.
If this episode resonated withyou, share it with another nurse
who is ready for more alignmentand joy in their career.

(15:54):
And don't forget to subscribeand follow the Ambitious Nurse
for more conversations aboutpurposeful growth and career
fulfillment.
Until next time, keep showingup, keep growing, and keep
building the career that fitsyou.
See you next time.
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.

(16:15):
If so, would you take 30 secondsand share it with another nurse
who may be unsure of where to gonext in their career or maybe
need some career clarity?
Also, please leave a quickreview for the show on Apple
Podcast.
It brings me so much joy and somuch encouragement to know this
podcast is helping you now goget the career you want and not

(16:39):
the one you settle for.
And I'll meet you back here nextThursday for another episode.
See you soon.
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